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As soon as North Carolina ended the Wildcats’ season, Arizona head coach Adia Barnes was already making it clear that the transfer portal was in play again—in both directions.
“We’ll add some other players to the roster and make some changes to the roster,” Barnes said in the postgame conference on March 21. “I’m excited about the future and I’m excited to start with a new young group and add some veterans here and there, and I want them to play in front of a packed house.”
Those changes are starting to become clear. WBBBLog.com reported that Koi Love, Derin Erdogan, Aaronette Vonleh, and Anna Gret Así have entered the transfer portal.
Arizona WBB new portal entrants:
— Raoul (@Raoul_000) March 25, 2022
—Anna Gret Asi, 5-8 FR point guard, Tartu, Estonia
—Derin Erdogan, 5-6 SO combo guard, Istanbul, Turkey
—Koi Love, 6-0 JR forward, Orlando, FL (previously at Vanderbilt)
—Aaronette Vonleh, 6-3 FR center, West Linn, OR
Love came to Arizona last offseason as a transfer. She spent her first two years at Vanderbilt but played in just 12 games partly because the Commodores called off their season in 2020-21. With the new NCAA rule allowing athletes to play immediately, she did not have to sit out this year. She will have to petition to do so again at her next school since it will be her second transfer.
Erdogan just completed her sophomore season. She got more playing time down the stretch, but she has spent most of her first two seasons buried behind point guards like Aari McDonald, Shaina Pellington, and Helena Pueyo. With Pellington and Pueyo set to return and McDonald’s All-American Paris Clark committed for next season, Erdogan’s path to playing time wasn’t getting any clearer.
Vonleh showed a great deal of promise early in the season. When Lauren Ware was injured, she scored 17 points against NAU. As expected, her minutes waned during Pac-12 play. She, too, faced a tough path. Not only will Ware, Cate Reese, and Gisela Sanchez be back, but Arizona will be adding top 10 recruit Maya Nnaji.
Asi played point guard in her native Estonia, but both she and Barnes made it clear before she arrived that she had no interest in playing that position at Arizona. She ended up not playing much at any position. She played a total of 49 minutes in seven appearances.
Now, all there is to do is wait and see which veterans Barnes is able to bring into the program for next season.
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